Pellaea mucronata

Pellaea mucronata

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pteridophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Genus: Pellaea
Species: P. mucronata
Binomial name
Pellaea mucronata
D.C.Eaton

Pellaea mucronata is a species of fern known by the common name bird's foot cliffbrake.

It is native to much of California, and parts of Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja California, where it grows in various types of rocky habitat. The subspecies californica is limited to California, while ssp. mucronata can be found outside that state's borders.

Each leaf is 7 to 45 centimeters long and is borne on a thin petiole. It is composed of a thin, straight, brown rachis lined with widely spaced leaflets. The leaflets are divided into small narrow terminal segments, or these may be subdivided into another set of segments. The smallest segment is up to about a centimeter long and is green to dark purplish in color. The edges may be rolled under. The sporangia are located under the edges.

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.